If you’re looking forward to the X-Men finally joining the Avengers in the upcoming Doomsday, there’s no better time to rewatch some of the best appearances of the X-Men. Here are our favorite X-Men movies.
Best X-Men movies as of 2025
There has been a back-and-forth between the crown for popularity between the Avengers and the X-Men. Despite Avengers globally crushing the gross income of X-Men, we’ll go right out and say the X-Men movies gave the superhero genre a significant boost in the early 2000s. This was before Spider-Man swung onto the scene, and before Christopher Nolan completely redefined comic book movies with the Batman trilogy. We’ll also tip our proverbial caps to Blade for also playing a big role here, though X-Men still managed to take in over $100 million more at the box office.
As with any best-of list, our picks for the best X-Men movies are somewhat subjective. Ask different fans, and you’ll get different answers.
Logan (2017)
Consistently ranked at the top of any X-Men movies ranked list, Logan is a character who plays out like a gritty western archetype, a cowboy who’s got to put down the guns and live quietly on the ranch until he’s spurred into action. That’s not exactly the story here, though the film draws slightly from the Old Man Logan comic.
Logan is lying low as the mutants are supposed to have been removed from the human bloodline. It’s been 25 years since any mutants were known to have been born, and all those remaining are left in hiding, and Logan is working as a driver. Things take off when some thugs try to steal his tires; he gets shot, but of course, the bullets don’t do much other than activate his adamantium claws. And then we’re off into the most violent, bloody depiction of Wolverine we’ve yet seen on screen.
As far as the plot goes, Logan (Hugh Jackman), along with an aging Professor X (Patrick Stewart) who is prone to dangerous seizures (dangerous not just for him, but those around him), set out to get a girl named Laura (Dafne Keen) to a place called Eden, a refuge for mutants. But they’re being chased by a group of ruthless Reaver mercenaries led by a cyborg named Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook), who is intent on hunting them down. But beyond the story itself is how the story is told under James Mangold’s direction. This is a fully R-rated movie for violence and mature themes, giving it every chance to defy superhero genre conventions.
X2: X-Men United (2003)
Roger Ebert called this movie “dumb, but good.” And coming from him, that’s a pretty good review. It’s definitely a superhero action movie, but that’s why we’re here, right?
X2: X-Men United is often considered one of the best early superhero sequels, in that it successfully ups the stakes from the first X-Men movie in almost every way. Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) infiltrates the White House in an attempt to assassinate the President, who looks very much like George W. Bush. This sets off a chain reaction that puts mutants in even greater danger. Already facing discrimination, the government has more reason to crack down on them. Next up, a ruthless military scientist (played by Brian Cox) launches an attack on Xavier’s school and captures Professor X. The X-Men team up with their old enemy, Magneto (Ian McKellen), to stop him.
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
Another X-Men comic storyline that has been slightly adapted, Days of Future Past places us in a world where mutants are being largely wiped out by the Sentinels, created by Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) in the 1970s. Before his assassination by Mystique (played by Jennifer Lawrence), Bolivar’s general view on things is that mutants pose a serious threat to humanity, and the best solution is to create violent, mutant-hunting robots to eliminate them. Over time, these robots have evolved to become highly effective killers in the present day, requiring the X-Men to devise a plan to change the course of events.
This time-bending movie plot involves sending Wolverine’s present-day consciousness into the past to stop the events that would lead them to the problem they’re currently facing. The third of four X-Men movies directed by Bryan Singer, Days of Future Past reunites most of the gang for this fun, popcorn-crunching superhero flick. Some storyline elements are lacking, but what’s good definitely makes up for it.
X-Men: First Class (2011)
X-Men: First Class gave us the relaunch of the franchise, as well as Kevin Bacon as a villain. Two key factors that make this movie one of the best X-Men films, though, of course, not the only qualifying factors. X-Men: First Class takes us back to the 1960s, introducing us to a young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender), before they became Professor X and Magneto. Together, they create a team of mutant heroes to prevent nuclear war at the height of the Cold War, but opposing ideologies fracture their bond.
Deadpool (2016)
The first Marvel film to receive an R-rating — we mean that somewhat loosely, as we’re talking about Marvel comic characters adapted to movies, not the actual Marvel Cinematic Universe. 20th Century Fox technically released the film. Deadpool subverts the superhero genre by giving us a raucous, profane hero in Wade Wilson, played by Ryan Reynolds. A former Special Ops soldier who is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Wilson is offered a possible cure by a wacko scientist named Ajax, played by Ed Skrein.
The experiment is actually an attempt to awaken latent mutant genes. Along with a little bit of torture, Ajax’s experiment leaves Wade disfigured, but with the ability to heal at hyperspeed. With the help of some allies, Deadpool sets out to track down the man in the promise of a cure.
Aside from the story, Deadpool absolutely kicked down the door for our expectations of the superhero movie. The Punisher (2004) tried this, but failed abysmally. Deadpool is raunchy (there are some sex scenes with nudity), full of crass but witty dialogue, funny, violent, and filled with plenty of fourth-wall-breaking moments.
How we picked the best X-Men movies
As with most of our lists, we tried to pick the best X-Men movies based on fan favorites, critical reception, and what the films did for the franchise. Sure, you could argue for the place of X-Men (2000) or The Wolverine (2013), but we felt these picks were all around the best.
